“Parents jump in outraged, you know, advocating, swinging hard,” he continued. “Moms, ex-teachers, charter advocates, politicians. It’s a total kill zone for us. You have this horrid circular firing squad of blame. Stay off that. He couldn’t.”

Neither could Olson, whose real-life job now appears to be in jeopardy because of what he’s posted to Facebook and Blogger.

In two posts to a Facebook group page in early March, Olson dismissed teachers’ role in the criminalization of student misbehavior and complained about St. Paul Public Schools’ ineffective response to students who use their phones for “gaming, setting up fights, selling drugs, whoring trains or cyber bullying.”

On March 3, Black Lives Matter St. Paul organizer Rashad Turner called Olson a white supremacist and “the epitome of a bad teacher” based on the Facebook posts. He threatened to shut down Como High unless Olson was fired.

On March 7, Turner and his group met with Superintendent Valeria Silva, and the protest was called off. Two days later, Olson — a 10-year veteran of teaching high school special education — was placed on paid administrative leave.

INVESTIGATION TURNS TO PERSONAL BLOG

Laurin Cathey, the district’s human resources director, acknowledged Olson was placed on leave after a complaint was filed, but he refused to say what the complaint concerned or why Olson is on leave.

However, emails obtained in a public records request indicate Cathey last week was interviewing parents who had read Olson’s blog, which the teacher made private soon after he was criticized for the Facebook posts.

“The blog is no longer available, in addition to your recollection I was hoping you might have a screen shot of what you read,” Cathey wrote in a March 15 email to a woman who complained about Olson’s blog.

The woman told Cathey she had no screenshots. She declined to comment for this report.

Despite shelving protest plans, Black Lives Matter’s Turner has kept the heat on Olson, taunting him on Turner’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Last week, he called on the teacher to reopen the blog to public view.

“We all wanna read about shaniqua and dae dae and pookie and dem,” he wrote.

Rashad Turner (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

On Monday night, Turner’s group published 66 pages of Olson’s blog, with highlights and handwritten notations on the offending sections.

Many of Olson’s blog posts have been hiding in plain sight since Olson made the blog private. The Pioneer Press last week accessed several-dozen work-related posts through Google’s cache feature, which stores snapshots of web pages as they once existed. Read all of them here:

Among the posts is a first-person account of Martin Luther King Day in 2015, when Olson happened upon a Black Lives Matter march while shopping. (To read the post, scroll down to the “Lives Matter” headline on this cached page.) He briefly joined the crowd, chanting alongside them.

“I dried my eyes, and turned back against their shoulders of progress to my car. I felt nowhere. Like a smashed atom. I mean, happy, but not a part. Glad for them, glad for their voices, to which I added a couple ‘Hands Up! Don’t Shoots!’ but reminded of my place on the periphery,” he wrote.

In another post touching on race, Olson expressed a measure of support for the district’s focus on the racial predictability of education outcomes such as graduation rates and suspensions.

“Racial equity has caught hold and will stick around after Pacific (Educational) Group has left,” he wrote, referring to a consulting group the district uses to train staff, “and we should keep embracing it, even as we embrace the other lives that also Matter: yes, Native, Asian, Latino, and African Lives.”

In his own voice and as Tom O’Shea, Olson, though, wrote several times of his frustration with how the school district has pursued its racial equity goals.

He complained of being forced to use reading materials too advanced for his special-education students.

He portrayed as clueless and useless the supervisors who frequently visit classrooms but offer no feedback.

He likened a training session to torture.

It’s Olson’s student sketches, though, that leave a lasting impact on the reader. With names such as Jai’Sean, Le’Vante and Meng, his fictionalized narratives paint a grim picture of life for students in and out of Tom O’Shea’s North End classroom.

READERS REACT

Joanne Hodgeman, whose biracial white and African-American daughter plans to enroll at Como this fall, read several of the blog posts while the site was public.

Hodgeman, who has shared her concerns with Cathey, said last week in an interview that she didn’t care for “the tone and the negative way that he spoke about Mr. O’Shea’s students, and the way that he martyred himself.”

She also said she thought Olson did a poor job of protecting the students in his class.

“I feel part of what he did was violate the privacy of some of his students by being so specific about his students,” she said.

Former school board member Keith Hardy, who is African-American, reviewed the posts at the request of the Pioneer Press. He said in an email Tuesday that he was disappointed Olson did not balance his gritty narratives with more positive portrayals of his students of color.

Olson’s writing at least borders on a form of racism, Hardy said, which sets different assumptions about a person’s abilities, motives and intentions because of their race.

“With that as my conclusion, I do not want him or instructional staff with similar mindsets in front of our students. There are way too many people who portray young leaders from communities of color, from economically poorer communities, and from communities of special education needs as being less than, not worthy of, and predisposed to negative treatment,” Hardy wrote.

“I welcome Theo proving me wrong,” he added.

Roy Magnuson, a social studies teacher at Como Park, said he read several of Olson’s posts in December.

“He’s trying to put a short story, fictionalized spin to the hard life that’s going on in the school and also (give) a clue as to just how challenging and often unsupported a teacher in Theo’s spot is and was,” he said.

Olson declined to comment, but his wife, Karen Nelson Olson, said he never used students’ real names and that he changed events and used composite characters for his sketches. The story of a boy performing a cartwheel during the attack on the light rail, for example, was just something Olson had heard about, she said.

“The stories are mashups of reality and fiction,” she said by email. “He’s trying to show how things are and how much help kids need. How complex the problems are. People think they understand what it’s like to be an inner city special ed teacher, and in reality they have absolutely no idea.”

The blog posts, she added, were not meant to be read by anyone but friends connected to Olson’s private Facebook page.

Josh has written about St. Paul public schools and higher education for the Pioneer Press since 2014, 11 years after the paper first published his byline as a University of Minnesota intern. He did a two-year stint on city government and crime in Austin, Minn., and spent seven years in Sioux Falls, S.D. covering crime and education, as well as editing. Josh was good at baseball once. Now he plays tennis against old men.

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Telling reality doesn’t work in this country anymore. The liberals don’t like hearing that sort of stuff. If this guy gets fired because of BLM, I’ll take the lawsuit. Pro bono. It’s time to stop this insanity.
We also need to get that Fire Silva petition off of moveon.org. It’s only got 727 signatures because hundreds of us don’t want the hate group moveon.org to have our information.

DavefromMinn

Correct. MoveOn.org is not someplace SPPP teachers need to be associated with.

bannedsmoke

Or anyone. moveon.org is a major liberal hate PAC.

TLR

I completely agree. I’d sign that petition in a minute if it weren’t on MoveOn.org

JJ

Only racist posts I see come from Rashad Turner. Olson doesn’t mention race at all.

mwwild1998

Sure will be nice when the destroyer in chief is out of the office and a real president takes over and starts standing up to the ignorant, racist, cancer to society terrorist like BLM, ACLU AND NAACP.

Ronald R Brown

You need to read a book.

FormerBadger

His writings are not racist. They are written with the honesty and power you would expect from a dedicated, overworked teacher who thought his writings were private. BLM is way off on this one.

bannedsmoke

BLM is way off on all topics.

TLR

This reads like a district looking for a reason to fire this guy.
I guess we know the result of the meeting between Silva and Turner now.
Turner: Either you fire this guy or we will close down Como
Silva: Ok Mr. Turner, Anything you Say Mr. Turner. Remember “Hands up! Don’t Shoot”

Highlander

The Silva Administration is after him because he told the truth of what is happening in the schools. Olson is far from the first, and unfortunately won’t be the last, to be harassed, intimidated, investigated, and/or terminated because they told the truth to, or about, the Silva Administration. Look no further than what happened to Aaron Benner or Peggy Anne Severs to understand the Administration’s playbook for action against concerned or dissenting staff. The new Board majority has been made well aware of this pattern of staff abuse and has a responsibility to stop it.

Ranger1873

Way to dox Theo Olson, PiPress. When he sues, he’ll have his very own newspaper.

Whodunnit

He could probably already afford to buy the failing pioneer press. The hits we give their page in the comment section is most likely their only revenue.

Viktor

Doxxing is illegal? What part of reddit are you from?

Frank Loncar

The only question that needs to be answered. Were these done on work time or after work? If after work, then Silva has no business with any discipline, or is free speech only for Turner?

Highlander

Any SPPS employee who criticizes the school district, Silva, or the Silva Administrations actions and policies is opening themselves to loss of job. As one of the union presidents called it, there is a climate of fear in the Saint Paul Schools under the current Superintendent and Administration.

Ronald R Brown

Try ripping your employer on social media and learn what free speech means.

Ranger1873

“Black Lives Matter’s Turner has kept the heat on Olson, taunting him on Turner’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Last week, he called on the teacher to reopen the blog to public view.”
___

Taunting? Sounds like harassment.

Meanwhile, Olson is under hack for telling the truth and for not mentioning race. I hope he’s taking good notes, his lawsuit should be a humdinger.

imdbcooper

Sewer city, sewer schools, get out..

DavefromMinn

The old saying is a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged. Perhaps Olson…okay, I am sure he is sill pretty liberal, but maybe he can see things a little bit the way the center-right does.

Highlander

Olson dared to speak the truth and now the shining guardians of free thought and speech, Rashad Turner and the Silva Administration, are after him. Disgusting, absolutely disgusting. Both Turner and the District deserve an expensive lesson in civil court.

Whodunnit

I sincerely hope if Olson loses his job, he launches another lawsuit against the school district. He DID speak the truth on many fronts, and it’s appalling that none of the BLM terrorists will take heed. Additionally, if they’re going to start pressuring administration to fire teachers based on their words outside of class, I think it’s time to start looking into what Rashads ilk says outside of their jobs like labeling people as “white supremacists” and contact their employers.

bannedsmoke

The problem with trying to figure out what Rashad’s ilk says outside their jobs is Rashad is unemployed, Levy-Pounds now works for the NAACP, so they’ll be proud with the racist things she says and who knows any of the other leaders. If we can get names, I’ll certainly take a turn at monitoring their sites.

TLR

Maybe we could start by informing the public there is only one BLM group in the Twin Cities affiliated with BLM and that group is across the river in Minneapolis.
Rashad’s little misinformed group is not affiliated and is using the name for personal gain and recognition

bannedsmoke

However, Rashad is definitely moving the DFL so-called leaders. Regardless of whether his little BLM group is legit or not, he’s shaking up the governor, both mayors, Silva, etc. Maybe is got stuff on all of them also.

Whodunnit

It doesn’t take much to shake up those “leaders” …it’s like taking candy from a baby since they all fear being labelled racists. You could fuse Dayton, Coleman, Hodges and Silva together and still not get a full backbone.

Brandt Holte

What interest does BLM STP have in taking heed? It would put them out of business. Their target audience is the same as whom Mr. Olson was writing, the uneducated masses from broken homes and no hope for a real future. I honestly believe Mr. Turner would rather have another generation lost because that keeps HIS dollars coming in than actually walking the walk and using his position in his community to reject this behavior and mentality. All he does is enable the same old school-to-prison pipeline.

Concerned Citizen

He should sue Silva personally for deformation and slander. Take her ‘buy out’ and start his own school…

bannedsmoke

We need as many people as possible at tonight’s school board meeting. Don’t miss it!

racefan55448

Where is the meeting?

bannedsmoke

Nice that BLM got a special education teacher suspended. The nature of working with special ed kids is to not disrupt the daily plan. So these kids have had their teaching yanked. Nice job, scumbag Turner.

bannedsmoke

Another test for this savior school board. So far, they’re 0-2. You’re up to bat again, gang. Do the right thing.

Bob

1984 all over again. You tell the truth, you go off to the gulag. Too bad for Mr. Olson, he tried being John Galt and ended up Jan Hus.

SlackDaddy

Is the school board meeting televised – i.e. some community channel on cable? Or is that only some city council meetings? Can’t make it out tonight, but would love to see this unfold.

Highlander

From the SPPS website:

All Regular Meetings of the Board of Education air live
from the District’s Administration Building the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6:05 PM on Saint Paul cable channel 16. Board Meetings are replayed on the following days after the live Tuesday cablecast:
Saturday at 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM
Tuesday at 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM.

SlackDaddy

Thanks HL!

SlackDaddy

So just saw on the news that the meeting ended after about 30 minutes. Silva walked out.

Whodunnit

If she can’t take the heat, she should get out of the kitchen

TLR

She had good reason to walk out. I left at the same time I was so disgusted. You can only take so much rude behavior.

EastSider

I wonder if we will see any of that on the news tonight?

Whodunnit

Unfortunately Silva who seems disgusted by their behavior, will spend tomorrow apologizing to the black lives matter group for not supporting their disruption. She has spent her entire career pandering to those who scream the loudest.

Highlander

They shut down public comments, took a ten minute intermission then reconvened.

Tucker

I support Theo Olsen!

Highlander

The School Board had to shut down public comments tonight due to the conduct of BLM supporters shouting down supporters of Theo Olson. Turner and his cronies have again shown their disdain for free speech and free thought. One particularly obnoxious young person who attends Linwood was standing and yelling in the front row while a White teacher spoke in support of teachers and Olson. His mother just sat there, watched, and did nothing to stop or control her offspring. The Board got a good view of what teachers put up with every day.

TLR

Highlander were you there? I sat in the back and listened with no reaction to anything said. Then when the older man in support of Olson came on that’s when it broke lose. I sat and listened all the way up until the woman behind me yelled “We’re not going to listen to your sob story whitey”
That’s when I got up to leave which is about the same time Silva left.
What I got out of this was “All opinions we don’t agree with must be drowned out”

tccitzen

Turner no credibility, get a job

Whodunnit

Who would hire him? He’s a big mouthed nobody who has zero positive impact. Does he have another fake robbery attempt by a “white supremacist” with a long gun to make up?

Michael

BLM is more angry than informed, historically a bad combination. School leaders need to stand up to the intimidation, and insist that parents take responsibility for their children’s behavior and that children take responsibility for their behavior. Confronting misbehavior doesn’t shame the student, it simply civilizes them.

George Orwell

To the media…..Black Lies Matter.

Opinionsarejustthat

Olson decidedly took a risk by posting to social media. My employer would frown upon me doing something similar (even with a pseudonym) as should it ever be connected to me, it could reflect poorly on the organization. Many organizations have similar standards of conduct inside and outside of the office. So while I sympathize, he did take a risk.

To call him out, as Turner and others have done, as a, “epitome of a bad teacher”, racist and similar while calling for his immediate dismissal however is akin to the exact same kind of judgmental perspective and attitude they rail against.

Both are emblematic of the myriad of problems that continue to plague SPPS.

ResistLabels

This is so sad… It sure would be painful to teach in those schools when you do not have the support of the parents whose children need the most discipline. If only it were as easy as hiring Joe Clark (Morgan Freeman’s character from “Lean on me”).

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